Katharine Langdon Munroe

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Moulton, Elizabeth - membership application

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Family/Spouse: Frederic Lansing Day. Frederic was born on 28 Sep 1890 in Prob., Boston, Massachusetts; died on 21 Nov 1981 in Princeton, Mercer Co., New Jersey, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Living

Notes:

James was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.B. 1882 and from 1882 to 1889 was secretary of the M.I.T. faculty. He was a life member of the American Unitarian Association. He held memberships in the following: Twentieth Century Club, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Boston City Club, American Economic Association, National Society for Promotion of Industrial Education, National Educational Association, Massachusetts Reform Club, Technology Club and he served as president of the Lexington Historical Society.

In 1907, he was apointed a member of the Massachusetts Commission for the blind and served as chairman. He was a trustee of the George O. Smith Fund and served two terms on the school committee.

In 1900, James wrote an eighty page book called, "A Sketch of the Munro Clan", also of William Munro who, deported from Scotland, settled in Lexington, Massachusetts, and some of his posterity. He also assisted Alexander Mackenzie in Mr. Mackenzie's book, "History of the Munros of Fowlis": his assistance to Mackenzie's book was supplying him with information about the Lexington, Massachusetts Munroes. Mackenzie's book deals in the most part with the Munros of Scotland.

In the preface of James Phinney's "Sketch of the Munro Clan," he says, "Learning that this (Mackenzie's) History of the Munros was in preparation, I entered into correspondence with Mr. Mackenzie, and was so far fortunate as to induce him to include in his genealogy as many of the American branches of the Munro Clan as the limited time before publication would permit us to follow up." Mackenzie's book was published in 1898 at Inverness, Scotland.

References:

(1) "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Mass. Munroes" by R. S. Munroe,
2nd ed. - Florence, Massachusetts (1986) - 13-31-54-3 - p. 343-344

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

James married Katherine Winhrop Langdon on 2 Jul 1885. Katherine was born about 1864; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Notes:

James spent his entire life in the immediate neighborhood of his birthplace, owning and cultivating an extensive estate known as Munroe Meadows. At one time he was a member of the firm of Sewall and Munroe, hardware dealers in Dock Square, Boston, Massachusetts, and for the firm he undertook the management of a small paper mill, located on Vine Brook at Bedford, Massachusetts. From this experience, and after the mill burned, he started a larger plant at South Lawrence, Massachusetts, which developed into the Munroe Felt and Paper Company and of which he was the president for many years.

He was a genial, courteous man, proud of Lexington, interested in improving and beautifying it, and a delightful entertainer of friends and visitors. By his will, James bequeathed to the Lexington historical Society, on behalf of his brother William and himself, that part of his real estate known as "Munroe Tavern" and a parcel of land surrounding it, to be kept forever as a token of Colonial and Revolutionary Lexington. He was a trustee of the Lexington Savings Bank.

He married the daughter of Elias and Catherine (Bartlett) Phinney.

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«i»The Monroe Tavern. -- Lexington Historical Society Will Open It to the Public. - From the Boston Transcript.

Pilgrims to historic Lexington are to have a new point of interest in that beautiful old town after Monday, May 14 «/i»[1911]«i», for on that date the famous Munroe Tavern bebomes a historical museum. the tavern has been closed to the public since 1856 but it is now to be open all through the summer and probably at intervals during the winter.

Under the will of James SMith Munroe, who died last December, the property was left to the Lexington Historical Society.«/i»

("The Munro Tavern" - newspaper article from an unknown newspaper from 1911)
**********

References:

(1) Clan Munro library - "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Massachusetts
Munroes", 2nd edition, by R. S. Munroe, (1986) -
13-34-54

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

James married Alice Bridge Phinney on 23 May 1854. Alice was born on 9 Nov 1826 in Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA; died on 7 Aug 1888 in Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Alice was the daughter of Elias Phinney (Harvard University, 1801) clerk of the Middlesex Courts and a prominent agriculturist.

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Notes:

Jonas was a lieutenant in the United States dragoons, he resigned his commission in 1807, but when the war of 1812 broke out, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the infantry. He was engaged in the recruiting service for a short time.

He was affectionately known to thousands as "Uncle Jonas". He kept the Monroe Tavern until the building of the railroad abolished stage-coaches and brought an end to the famous hostelries that had lined the coach routes. Because Lexington was on the main thoroughfares from New Hampshire to Boston, the Munroe Tavern was always crowded with guests, while its barn and the sheds that used to join it have often sheltered a hundred horses.

He drowned while bathing at Somerville, Massachusetts.

References:

(1) Clan Munro library - "History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Massachusetts
Munroes", 2nd edition, by R. S. Munroe, (1986) -
13-34-5, 13-34-51

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Jonas married Abigail Cook Smith on 17 Mar 1814. Abigail was born on 29 Jun 1792; died on 4 Apr 1861 in Lexington, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Abigail was the daughter of Joseph Smith.

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA